Seahawks scuffle: Camp gets a little chippy

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Rookie defensive end E.J. Wilson tackles Justin Forsett during Tuesday’s practice on a day when the defense turned up its intensity in preparation for Saturday’s preseason opener. (Rod Mar/Seattle Seahawks)

You can tell it’s 11 days into training camp when players start picking fights and shoving matches break out during practice, which we saw several times on Tuesday as the Seahawks returned to work following a day off.

With their first preseason game four days away, the Seahawks defense turned up its intensity a few notches and initiated a couple scuffles that caused coach Pete Carroll to gather the troops afterward and remind them they’re all on the same team.

Matt Hasselbeck

Carroll called it a good teaching moment and wasn’t overly concerned by anything except the sight of starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck getting caught up in the middle of the first melee.

“That was not quite called for,” Carroll said with a wry grin. “All the sudden there’s a red jersey in the pile and he said he thought there was no way there was going to be a fight and that’s why he jumped in.”

Hasselbeck said he was more of an innocent bystander — or intended peacemaker — after it appeared defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson and offensive guard Mike Gibson began going at it.

“I really had nothing to do with that,” Hasselbeck said. “I was pulling my guy back and a fight broke out. … Bad place to be. Wrong place, wrong time.”

Another scrum erupted between the entire offensive and defensive lines later during the practice with Brandon Mebane among those taking a swing. Things seemed to get tense earlier after wide receiver Ruvell Martin accidentally ran up the back of the legs of cornerback Josh Wilson on a comeback route.

Wilson began chirping at Martin and had to be turned away by Deion Branch. Moments later, Lawyer Milloy pushed Martin roughly out of bounds and on the next play, fullback Owen Schmidt lowered his shoulder and plowed hard into Milloy, causing tight end John Carlson to step in.

Eventually things grew heated in the trenches and after the second scrum, first-round draft pick Russell Okung dropped into a boxer’s stance, prepared to take on safety Kevin Ellison, at the end of another chippy play inside.

“These guys have been banging on each other for a couple weeks,” Carroll said. “They’re ready to play another team and just turn the focus like this game calls for. It’s not OK, but it’s understood that it’s going to happen sometimes. We just have to learn to manage it.”

Carroll calls it learning to “walk that edge,” and his players seemed to get the message.

“Today was just a great day,” said rookie safety Earl Thomas. “The defensive line and o-line were battling it out. That’s what we’ve got to have in practice. It felt good. It gave me chills in my body. I’m just glad to be part of this team. We’re going in the right direction and are just looking forward to the first game.”

Said linebacker Aaron Curry: “You get tired of going against the same guys, so you have some pent-up frustration or competition you want to release on somebody else. But all you have in front of you is your teammates.

“Sometimes we get so competitive we forget who we’re going against. We forget we’re going against Seahawks. … (Carroll) reminded us that to win games we need everybody to get on the bus or airplane on Sundays. You don’t want to take out the starting quarterback or starting right guard over nonsense or not being able to control your aggression. You just want to get to the point of attack and make the smartest decision at that time.”

As usual, Hasselbeck summed it up nicely.

“Rule No. 1, we say all the time, is protect the team. We had some Rule 1 violators today,” Hasselbeck said. “That’s not good. And the other thing is we’ve got to play with great energy and passion and all that stuff. But you’ve got to play smart and you’ve got to have poise. Taking hits after the whistle or whatever is not what we’re going to be all about.”